If you find yourself wandering past a bookstore this weekend, you might want to look for a copy of The Fantasy Artist's Figure Drawing Bible by Matt Dixon. It's a book that does a fairly good job of introducing different artistic concepts and techniques to beginners, but I think will be most valuable to me in the long run as a quick reference guide.
Much of the book's advice on technique can be helpful to any artist (assuming you're working with media compatible with the advice). You don't have to be doing fantasy artwork to make use of ways of painting realistic hair or fur. But the book is focused on the fantasy genre, and covers ideas and examples for everything from wizards and paladins to ghouls and ogres. It's really more of an idea book than a collection of tutorials, which is why I say I'll be using it as reference material. Instead of showing you step-by-step how to draw a dwarf, the book talks about the typical dwarven personality traits and appearance in the fantasy genre, gives examples of different tools dwarves might use, and offers a few ideas for different dwarf-appropriate face/hair combinations.
This doesn't mean the author assumes you'll be doing stereotypical depictions. In fact, there's a section in the book that discusses making your work stand out by showing a character doing something that goes against what audiences usually expect. Of course, it helps to know the rules before you start artistically breaking them. :)
I really do see the book as more of a reference guide, but that's not a bad thing. There are plenty of more instructional books out there, and sometimes I just need to look over some ideas to get my thoughts going, or quickly look up a technique for a certain effect. This book is pretty useful for that.
Recent Comments